Finland projected roster for 4 Nations Face-Off

The 4 Nations Face-Off will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, with teams of NHL players from Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States competing in a round-robin tournament. This will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.

The international tournament is about three months away, but the full rosters for each nation will be announced Dec. 4. The rosters for Finland and Sweden will be announced during a live show produced by NHL Network and made available globally. ESPN will also announce the remaining players representing Finland and Sweden during the 2 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter. At 6:30 p.m. ET, the balance of rosters for Canada and the United States will be announced during live pre-game shows on Sportsnet and TNT leading into doubleheaders on each network.

Before that happens, NHL.com wanted to take an updated look at what each roster could look like, using a panel of three staff writers and editors to compile a list of 23 players (20 skaters, three goalies) for each team.

NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke, staff writer Tracey Myers and NHL.com/fi contributor Sami Haapasalo unveiled their original Finland roster in February, an updated one in July and one last month. Roarke, Myers and Haapasalo take a final shot at predicting the roster with some minor changes.

Six players (marked by an asterisk) were named to the roster in June by their hockey federations.

Here is Finland's projected roster (listed alphabetically by position):

Forwards (13)

Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes*
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers*
Mikael Granlund, San Jose Sharks
Erik Haula, New Jersey Devils
Roope Hintz, Dallas Stars
Kaapo Kakko, New York Rangers
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina Hurricanes
Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado Avalanche
Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers
Eetu Luostarinen, Florida Panthers
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche*
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks
Eeli Tolvanen, Seattle Kraken

Aho, Barkov and Rantanen are already in. Selecting Hintz, Lehkonen, Lundell and a rejuvenated Granlund is a no-brainer, but things get complicated with the final six forwards. Luostarinen is a good all-around player, reliable penalty killer and he has good chemistry with Lundell, like Teravainen had with Aho in Carolina. Haula, Kotkaniemi and Tolvanen would form an excellent fourth line with their tenacious style and hard-working attitude. Haula is a speedy two-way forward who brings a solid veteran presence and can play center and wing. Tolvanen can hit, has a knack for scoring and contributes on the power play. It's tough to leave Utah wing Matias Maccelli out, but Kakko has played better this season, so he earns the last spot. -- Haapasalo

Defensemen (7)

Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars*
Henri Jokiharju, Buffalo Sabres
Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars*
Niko Mikkola, Florida Panthers
Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club
Rasmus Ristolainen, Philadelphia Flyers
Juuso Valimaki, Utah Hockey Club

This has been the steadiest part of the roster-selection process when it comes to the Finns. Though Jani Hakanpaa (Toronto Maple Leafs) likely deserves some attention, he has missed most of the season with an injury. Heiskanen and Lindell are a solid one-two punch, and Mikkola showed a surprising steadiness during the Panthers' run to the Stanley Cup. Each is versatile and experienced, capable of playing in multiple situations and sliding up and down pairings. The depth means a good defenseman will be out of the mix. It could be Maatta, who was traded to Utah by the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 29. He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and '17. Not a bad insurance policy. -- Roarke

Goalies (3)

Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver Canucks
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators*

With all due respect to Joonas Korpisalo, Joel Blomqvist and others, this remains the cream of the Finnish goaltending crop. As tough of a start as the Predators have had, I would still expect Saros to be the starter. After that, it's pretty tight between Lankinen and Luukkonen. Lankinen has found new life as the starter for the Canucks. Vancouver has struggled with consistency lately, but that's been team-wide and not necessarily in goal. Same goes for Buffalo, but Luukkonen has provided strong goaltending while getting the bulk of the starts. -- Myers